Speech perception in elderly patients following cochlear implantation

Abstract

The surgical procedure was well tolerated by all patients without notable perioperative complications. In terms of speech perception, no significant differences between the elderly patients and younger recipients were noted. All patients found that cochlear implantation had a positive impact on their quality of life.

Older and Younger Adult Cochlear Implant Users: Speech Recognition in Quiet and Noise, Quality of Life, and Music Perception

“…Cochlear implantation carries minimal risk and has been proven to be a safe procedure in all age groups (Venail et al, 2008) including the older population (Budenz et al, 2011;Carlson et al, 2010;Chatelin et al, 2004;Coelho, Yeh, Kim, & Lalwani, 2009;Djalilian, King, Smith, & Levine, 2002;Eshraghi et al, 2009;Haensel, Ilgner, Chen, Thuerman, & Westhofen, 2005;Labadie, Carrasco, Gilmer, & Pillsbury, 2000;Orabi, Mawman, Al-Zoubi, Saeed, & Ramsden, 2006). These authors generally agree that older adults present with more comorbid conditions at the time of surgery, and the patient's preexisting medical conditions are more important for determining intra-or postoperative complications than age alone.…”

“…These authors generally agree that older adults present with more comorbid conditions at the time of surgery, and the patient's preexisting medical conditions are more important for determining intra-or postoperative complications than age alone. The outcomes of implantation in older adults are excellent such that speech understanding is significantly improved between preoperative and postoperative test intervals (Djalilian et al, 2002;Eshraghi et al, 2009;Haensel et al, 2005;Labadie et al, 2000;Migirov, Taitelbaum-Swead, Drendel, Hildesheimer, & Kronenberg, 2010;Orabi et al, 2006;Pasanisi et al, 2003;Shin et al, 2000). The benefits of improved audibility and speech recognition are expected to cascade into other areas of life such as the patient's social, psychological, and overall physical health.…”

“…Many studies report that older and younger implanted adults do equally well on tests using single words or sentences in quiet listening conditions (Budenz et al, 2011;Haensel et al, 2005;Labadie et al, 2000;Migirov et al, 2010;Noble et al, 2009;Orabi et al, 2006;Park et al, 2011;Pasanisi et al, 2003;Poissant et al, 2008;Sterkers et al, 2004), yet others demonstrate significantly lower performance for older compared with younger CI listeners (Chan et al, 2007;Friedland, RungeSamuelson, Baig, & Jensen, 2010;Noble et al, 2009;Roberts, Lin, Herrmann, & Lee, 2013;Vermeire et al, 2005). Perhaps even more surprising is that studies also disagree about the presence of age-related speech-in-noise (SIN) performance differences between older and younger implanted adults.…”

Effects of Age and Implanted Ear on Speech Recognition in Adults with Unilateral Cochlear Implants

“…However, studies have consistently shown that older adults do, in fact, receive considerable benefits from CI, specifically in terms of speech perception, without significant differences in complications [Budenz et al, 2011;Haensel et al, 2005;Kelsall et al, 1995;Labadie et al, 2000;Orabi et al, 2006;Shin et al, 2000;Vermeire et al, 2005]. Some studies have shown that speech perception performance may be poorer than in younger adults [Budenz et al, 2011;Chatelin et al, 2004], but others have shown no difference between age groups [Haensel et al, 2005;Shin et al, 2000].…”

Recent advances in hearing restoration

“…22 Since elderly patients perform equally well as younger CI recipients, age is not a barrier to device insertion. 23 At present there are three major manufacturers of CIs, including Cochlear Corporation, Advanced Bionics Corporation and Med-El Corporation.…”